India's Omicron tally mounts to 213, Delhi leads with 57

New Delhi, Dec 22: The highly-infectious Omicron cases in India rose to 213 on Wednesday, with Delhi and Maharashtra reporting more than half of the infections alone.

Out of 213 Omicron cases, 90 patients have been discharged after recovery, as per the Union Health Ministry.

Delhi leads the number of Omicron cases in India with 57 cases, followed by Maharashtra 54. They are followed by Telangana (24 cases), Karnataka (19), Rajasthan (18), Kerala (15) and Gujarat (14).

The fast-spreading Omicron strain of Covid has set off alarm bells and stoked grim memories of the devastating second wave of the pandemic that had brought the country's health infrastructure on its knees.

On Tuesday, the centre said that the Omicron covid variant is three times as infectious as Delta,urging states to "activate" war rooms, keep analysing even small trends and surges and keep taking strict and prompt containment action at district and local levels.

The government advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance.

The letter highlights measures that need to be taken in view of initial signs of surge in cases of COVID-19 as well as increased detection of the variant of concern Omicron in different parts of the country.